Ames, Iowa – I went to the Iowa straw poll and all I got was … a dozen free T-shirts, a half dozen branded grocery bags, a Fred Karger Frisbee, a pad of National Association of Gun Rights sticky notes, two Mike Huckabee bumper stickers, a free (with NRA membership!) Gadsden flag and a hunter-orange NRA cap.

The straw poll grounds are awash in swag and freebies.

Just about every candidate tent and third-party kiosk has some item to give away, and they’re moving fast.

The NRA hats are near-ubiquitous, sprouting up like wildflowers amidst the morning crowd of straw-pollers.

There seems to be a reusable grocery bag on every arm, printed with logos from NRA, the Iowa Energy Forum, the Iowa Republican soapbox, the Iowa Federation of Republican Women and others. Many of the bags are laden with what appear to be multiple tents’ worth of goodies.